Canada’s federal government unveiled its Nuclear Energy Strategy on Monday, June 22, 2026, at an event in Newmarket, Ontario, where Energy Minister Tim Hodgson and Ontario Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce joined federal, provincial, and industry officials to announce the plan. The centerpiece: up to 10 new large-scale reactors built on Canadian soil by 2040.
The strategy signals a sharp acceleration for a country that already supplies roughly a quarter of the world’s uranium and operates 19 reactors at home.
Canada announces Nuclear Energy Strategy with reactor build targets
The Nuclear Energy Strategy rests on four pillars: new domestic reactor builds, maintaining Canada’s role as a top nuclear supplier and exporter, expanding uranium production, and advancing fission and fusion innovation. Taken together, they are designed to move Canada from a position of existing strength into a more deliberate and structured global role.
Minister Hodgson framed the announcement in generational terms. “We are moving at speeds not seen in generations to get big things done and leveraging preexisting strengths to become a modern energy superpower,” he said in a statement accompanying the release.
The strategy also calls for a “modernized, cost-competitive” design of Canada’s CANDU pressurized heavy water reactor to be finalized by 2030 — a near-term technical benchmark that would need to land before the broader build program accelerates into the following decade.
Why Canada is acting now: Global competition and existing strengths
One number drove much of the urgency at the Newmarket event. Ontario Energy Minister Stephen Lecce noted that 94 percent of all reactors built in the last decade were constructed by China or Russia — a figure he argued illustrates precisely why Canada needs to move faster.
Canada’s existing position is substantial. The country operates 19 nuclear reactors domestically and supports several more CANDU units across South Korea, China, Romania, Argentina, and India. In 2024, Canada produced roughly 24 percent of global uranium supply, exporting approximately 90 percent of that output.
The strategy is blunt about the stakes. “Hesitation is not a neutral choice; it is a decision to cede ground that will be difficult to recover,” the document states. Officials described a “time-limited window” created by the global nuclear renaissance—one that faster-moving competitors are already working to close.
Domestic build milestones and reactor deployment timeline
Rather than pointing to a single distant target, the strategy lays out a sequenced timeline. Two reactors are to be under construction by 2035. Five additional reactors are to be planned or under active development by 2040. That progression is designed to build momentum and supply chain capacity in stages, not all at once.
Geographic spread is also a stated goal. At least one reactor outside Ontario must be operational or under construction by 2035, signaling that the expansion is not intended to concentrate entirely in the province that currently hosts most of Canada’s fleet.
Smaller-scale technology features prominently as well. A microreactor is to be demonstrated by 2035 and deployed to a rural community by the late 2030s — a timeline reflecting growing interest in using compact reactor designs to serve remote communities currently dependent on diesel generation.
Export ambitions, uranium production, and R&D investment targets
On the international side, the strategy sets specific commercial targets. Canada aims to secure CANDU reactor deals in at least four new countries and open discussions with six to ten additional “new nuclear entrant markets” by 2040. Meaningful Canadian supply chain participation in at least five non-CANDU international reactor projects is targeted as well.
Uranium export volumes are set to double between 2024 and 2035, supported in part by new mining production expected to come online by that year. Fuel supply chains for all Canadian reactors are to be strengthened and secured by 2032.
Private-sector research and development investment carries a hard target. Spending in that category ranged from roughly C$200 million to C$300 million annually between 2019 and 2023; the strategy calls for that figure to reach C$500 million to C$700 million by 2032. Innovation goals include a Generation IV microreactor by 2035 and growing Canada’s share of the global medical isotope market by at least 10 percent.
Financing, regulation, waste management, and Indigenous participation
Building up to 10 new reactors requires more than political will. The strategy explicitly identifies attracting private financing and streamlining the nuclear regulatory framework as preconditions for hitting construction timelines—regulatory efficiency treated as a competitive factor, not simply a domestic administrative concern.
Increased participation by Indigenous communities is identified as a requirement, not an afterthought. The strategy treats this as integral to the social license needed for new builds to proceed.
Waste management receives dedicated attention too. Long-term plans for low- and intermediate-level waste must keep pace with new reactor deployment under the Integrated Strategy for Radioactive Waste. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization has already submitted an initial project description to the federal government for a deep geological repository designed to hold Canada’s spent nuclear fuel.
Taken together, the Nuclear Energy Strategy sets out a detailed roadmap: up to 10 large reactors by 2040, doubled uranium exports by 2035, CANDU deals in at least four new countries, private R&D investment more than doubled by 2032, and a microreactor in a rural community before the decade is out. Whether Canada meets those targets will depend on financing, regulatory speed, and international demand — but the plan now exists, and the clock is running.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.
